Equity markets decline in early trade dragged by services, realty stocks, FII outflows
Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Monday weighed down by losses in services and realty stocks and sustained foreign fund outflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 316.52 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 85,395.85 in the morning trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 106.70 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 26,079.75.
From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki India, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Hindustan Unilever and Larsen & Toubro were the laggards.
However, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Eternal, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Consultancy Services, Trent, HCL Technologies and Tata Steel were among the gainers.
"Emerging positive and negative news have the potential to keep the market volatile in the near-term. Robust economic growth and indications of earnings growth revival are supportive of markets.
"The massive fiscal and monetary stimulus to the economy this year has contributed to sharp revival in GDP growth as evidenced by the 8.2 per cent Q2 GDP growth print, and RBI's upward revision of FY 26 GDP growth to 7.3 per cent augurs well for the market," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
He noted that low GDP deflator, consequent to low inflation, has impacted nominal GDP growth and corporate earnings growth. But from the leading indicators it is clear that about 15 per cent earnings growth is achievable in FY27. This is positive for the market.
"However, there are strong negatives, too, which can impact the market. Sustained depreciation of the rupee has been forcing FIIs to sell in the market continuously," Vijayakumar added.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 438.90 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 4,189.17 crore, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and South Korea's Kospi were trading in the green territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was quoting in the red zone.
US markets ended higher on Friday.
"American equities posted modest, broad-based gains last week, supported by softer inflation data and resilient macroeconomic indicators that sustained expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts," Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, said.
He noted that investors positioned cautiously ahead of the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, additional inflation releases, and year-end portfolio adjustments.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.13 per cent, to USD 63.83 per barrel.
On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex benchmark advanced 447.05 points to settle at 85,712.37, while the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 152.70 points to close at 26,186.45.
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'India’s beautiful Triumphal Arch', says Trump with pic of India Gate on social media
New York (PTI): Describing the India Gate in New Delhi as “India’s beautiful Triumphal Arch”, US President Donald Trump said a similar monument in America will be “the greatest of them all.”
The 42 metre high India Gate, an “Arc-de-Triomphe", honours the memory of the 70,000 Indian soldiers who were killed fighting for the British Army during World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
“India’s beautiful Triumphal Arch. Ours will be the greatest of them all!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, posting a photograph of the iconic Indian monument.
While talking to reporters onboard Air Force One over the weekend, Trump had said that his administration is considering building an arc, similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
“For 200 years, they wanted to build an arc. They have 57 cities throughout the world that have them. We're the only major city, Washington, DC, that doesn’t,” he said, adding that the arc that will be built in Washington “will be the most beautiful in the world.”
Trump said he is setting up a committee for the construction of the arc.
“I'd like it to be the biggest one of all. We're the biggest, most powerful nation. I'd like it to be the biggest one….the arc, I think it's going to be great. We're just setting up a committee now,” he said.
( @realDonaldTrump - Truth Social Post )
— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) February 2, 2026
( Donald J. Trump - Feb 02 2026, 9:29 AM ET )
India’s beautiful Triumphal Arch. Ours will be the greatest of them all! pic.twitter.com/Bz5bAvnnwM
